Particle Lagrangian in a shearing sheet ($L_2$)

Expand a unit-mass particle's Lagrangian about an axisymmetric circular orbit of radius $r_0$ and frequency ${\Omega }_0$, using $r=r_0+x$ and $\phi ={\Omega }_{0}t+y/r_0$. Circular-orbit balance removes the linear radial term; total-time-derivative invariance of a Lagrangian removes $r_0{\Omega }_0\dot{y}$. To second order,Here $q$ is the orbital shear parameter and ${\Omega }_z$ is the vertical epicyclic frequency. The Euler-Lagrange equations retain the local Coriolis acceleration and tidal gravity.

The time-independent particle Lagrangian in a shearing sheet has conserved rotating-frame energyThe velocity-linear Coriolis acceleration term cancels from this expression. Up to the reference-orbit constant, it is the second-order expansion of inertial specific orbital energy minus ${\Omega }_0$ times inertial specific angular momentum. Its negative radial tidal term allows inelastic collisions to lower the total energy while increasing the radial extent of a ring.